Alberta鈥檚 United Conservative Party leader is standing by his decision not to enact a policy that would potentially out LGBTQ youth to their families.
鈥淲e will have to govern for all Albertans, not just Conservative Party members,鈥� UCP Leader Jason Kenney told CTV Power Play on Monday. 鈥淲e take general direction from the membership, but ultimately I鈥檒l be holding the pen on our platform.鈥�
Despite pleas from senior caucus members, during the UCP鈥檚 founding policy conference on Sunday, 57 per cent of delegates voted in favour of a motion stating that parents in Alberta should be notified when their children are involved in subjects of a religious or sexual nature, including extracurricular clubs like gay-straight alliances.
Such clubs, advocates say, provide LGBTQ students with a safe space and a refuge from bullying. Notifying parents of a student鈥檚 involvement in gay-straight alliances, they add, could potentially out them to their families against their will.
Speaking on Power Play, Kenney said Sunday鈥檚 鈥渧ery badly worded鈥� motion has created 鈥渁 lot of confusion鈥� and 鈥渦nnecessary anxiety.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e a big-tent coalition and we have people with different views on different questions,鈥� Kenney added. 鈥淥n questions like this, what our members are trying to tell us is the importance of parental authority and responsibility鈥� At the same time, I鈥檝e said if kids joined a peer group like a gay-straight alliance just to get emotional or other support, there鈥檚 no need for mandatory notification any more than joining the chess club. So, we鈥檙e not going to put mandatory notification in our platform or our government policy.鈥�
Kenney also tried to downplay the suggestion that he ought to be beholden to the UCP grassroots.
鈥淚鈥檓 the leader and I鈥檓 in charge,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was never the idea that we would just cut and paste resolutions into a platform.鈥�
Kenney, however, has previously made comments in which he expressed support for such notifications, unless doing so would put a child in danger. On Monday, he appeared to distance himself from that stance.
鈥淏ottom line is, we do not believe in mandatory notification of parents for extracurricular activities in peer groups,鈥� he said.
With files from The Canadian Press
